East Timor's Court of Appeal has been asked to decide if a
controversial new law which grants widespread amnesties for most crimes
committed in the past year violates the tiny country's constitution.

President Jose Ramos Horta today said he would send the bill to the
court for an opinion on its constitutionality and whether it violates the
country's international obligations, before deciding whether he will sign
it or veto it.

East Timor's parliament last month quietly passed the law, which could
lead to amnesties for thousands of offenders for a wide range of crimes -
from fireams offences, crimes against security to larceny.

"Today I'm actually sending it to the Court of Appeal for an
opinion on the constitutional implications, whether such a law is in
conformity ... or violates some of the principles of international law,
and in particular our constitution," Ramos Horta told AAP.

"I wouldn't sign ... a law with such implications without seeking
a clarification from the highest court in this country.

"I don't have a view one way or another at the moment, once I
study the issue from every angle, one dimension is the constitutionality
of the law, another is obviously political implications."

The court has one month to deliver its opinion.

Both the United Nations and East Timor's government watchdog, the
Provedor, have raised serious concerns with the law, including that it
will hinder efforts to hold people accountable for last year's political
crisis in which 37 people were killed.

East Timor's government has said the law will help the country move
forward from last year's crisis of violence, with prosecutors grappling
with thousands of cases in the fledgling country's justice system and
prisons "bursting at the seams".

But analysts fear the law could spark new tensions in the nation,
particularly if jailed former government minister Rogerio Lobato is among
those to be released.

In a recent report, think-tank the International Crisis Group said the
new clemency law was "apparently intended especially for Rogerio
Lobato", who in March was convicted of murder and distributing
weapons to civilians during last year's crisis.

"According to Mudansa (Fretilin Reform group) members, Lobato
agreed to take the blame for the distribution of weapons in 2006 on
condition that he would be amnestied," the report says.